The DLB is a scholar-produced resource of professional-career biographies of some 12,000 writers grouped in volumes organized by nationality, chronological period, or literary movement.

The Dictionary of Literary Biography was initiated by Gale Research in 1978 after a two-year planning process by a distinguished board of scholars, publishers, and librarians, headed by Professor Matthew J. Bruccoli.

Over the past half century, the DLB has blossomed into 100 million words written by literary scholars and scrupulously edited and fact-checked by a dedicated professional team—more than 400 volumes, including the Documentary Series, delivering DLB professional-career biographies of some 12,000 writers.

DLB Next Gen takes the DLB into the digital age. Produced by Bruccoli Clark Layman in cooperation with Layman Poupard Publishing for Gale Cengage,  DLB Next Gen is designed to preserve the best elements of the series and present them in a format that takes advantage of the robust and expansive capabilities of digital presentation, drawing on the enormous resources of the Gale Literature database, as well as other trusted digital sources. DLB Next Gen is a reference work for the 21st century and beyond.

DLB Founding Editors
Matthew J. Bruccoli
E. Frazer Clark, Jr.

DLB Next Gen
Editorial Director: Richard Layman
Senior Editors: George Anderson, Eric Bargeron, Hollis Beach, Dennis Poupard
Production Manager: Kourtnay King